Using British Mandate-Era Emergency Regulations, Israel Threatens Deportation of 6 Palestinian Youths

Using British Mandate-Era Emergency Regulations, Israel Threatens Deportation of 6 Palestinian Youths

Israeli police arrest Palestinians in Jerusalem.

The Israeli occupation authorities threatened to deport six Palestinian young men to the blockaded Gaza Strip in case they breach the nighttime house arrest imposed on them.

The threats come a few hours after Israeli police forces raided Palestinian homes in Issawiya district in occupied Jerusalem after midnight and handed six Palestinian young men warrants placing them under nighttime house arrest for months.

The warrants were issued as a final decision by the Israeli security authorities in the city after the young men had been handed a few days ago military injunctions notifying them of the Israel army’s intention to place them under nighttime curfew soon.

The injunctions were issued by the Israeli army’s home front command in the West Bank, which has no security jurisdiction over Jerusalem.

The police warrants warned the young men that they would be arrested and jailed if they disobeyed the house arrest orders.

The six Issawiya young men are Anwar Sami, Mohamed Aliyan, Fayez Mohamed, Mohamed Mousa, Adam Kayed, and Mahmoud Ramdan. They will be confined to their homes during night hours for different periods ranging from two to four months.

The Israeli measure represents an unusual move to use British Mandate-era emergency regulations against local Palestinian residents in an area annexed by Israel.

In 1945, the British Mandate government enacted the Defense (Emergency) Regulations. They included, in part, provisions against illegal immigration, establishing military tribunals to try civilians without granting the right of appeal, allowing sweeping searches and seizures, prohibiting publication of books and newspapers, demolishing houses, detaining individuals administratively for an indefinite period, sealing off particular territories, and imposing curfew.

In 1948, Israel incorporated the Defense Regulations into its law, pursuant to section 11 of the Government and Law Arrangements Ordinance, except for "changes resulting from establishment of the State or its authorities", said Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories – B’Tselem.

In 1951, following debate on administrative detention, the Knesset plenum decided that the Defense Regulations oppose the basic principles of democracy and directed the Constitution, Law, and Justice Committee to draft a bill for their repeal. Nevertheless, the Regulations were not abolished, apparently because they served as the legal basis for the military rule then imposed on Israel's Arab citizens.

Over the years, Israel used these regulations extensively in the Occupied Territories to punish and deter. The Regulations served as the authority for Israel to demolish and seal hundreds of houses, deport residents, administratively detain thousands of persons, and impose closures and curfews on towns and villages.

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